Daily Thoughts

In the Old Testament I read that Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them to the hands of the Philistines for forty years. However, an angel comes to Monoah's wife, who is barren, and promises her a son who will deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. She bares a son and names him Samson. Judg. 13: 1-5, 24 "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the Lord blessed him."

In the Book of Mormon I read that we need to be humble, submissive, full of patience and long-suffering, and that we need to be diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times. We can ask Him for anything we stand in need of, and need to thank Him for the blessings He's bestowed upon us. We need to have faith, hope, and charity, and abound in good works. Lots of great ideas in these verses, and things we can all work on to improve our lives. Alma 7: 23-24 "And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive. And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works."

I'm always amazed at how often different scriptures I'm reading seem to tie in together. Some verses with a thought booklet emphasize faith and charity, two things brought up in the Book of Mormon verses above. We need to stand fast in faith and let all things be done in charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. So in doing all things in charity, this means that it's not only important that we do good works and serve others, but we need to do so with love. When we serve, what is our motivation? Do we want to "do our duty" or be seen as a good person by others? Or do we truly have the love of Christ for our fellowmen and want to serve them because of this love? 1 Cor. 16: 13-14 "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity."